IND vs NZ | Twitter laughs as Daryl's absurd response to Rana bumper defuses brewing tension between duo

Yesterday at 5:50 PM

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Franchise cricket connections may have made international cricket more vanilla but as long as characters like Harshit Rana exist, on field duels can never be boring. In Vadodara, he chose Daryl Mitchell as his desired target but just when things were heating up, one gesture dissolved all tension.

New Zealand racked up 300/8 after being asked to bat first in the opening ODI against India, in Vadodara on Sunday, on the back of half-centuries from Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, and Daryl Mitchell. The two openers set up an excellent base with a 117-run stand up-top before a slew of wickets threatened to end the Kiwi innings prematurely. However, Mitchell anchored the rest of their effort with a game-defining 71-ball 84, excercising caution early on before exploding to life in the death overs in a well-paced knock that was not without its sparks of conflict.

On the first ball of the 43rd over, Mitchell knocked Rana down the ground for an easy single. But as Rana turned around and began returning to his mark, he extended his arms while indicating something to the fielder and in the process was brushed by a rushing Mitchell's elbow. The quick was it happy with the contact and had some words ready to fire at Mitchell, who responded in kind before the two shared a steely eye contact. Another exhchange of looks followed when Mitchell got on strike with a single the next ball and if Rana's track record was anything to go by, a bust-up seemed inevitable. The youngster steamed in from over the wicket and delivered an incredulously slow bumper to deceive Mitchell, who kept waiting and waiting for the ball before leaping in the air and swvveling his hands over his head but with no success. Although the umpires signalled a wide, the Kiwi veterab was not pleased and let his intrusive thoughts win as he mimicked swatting the ball around over his head as if it were a mosquito. Even Rana could not help but burst out laughing at the antics, with Mitchell recoprocating, and the contest suddenly seemed to have taken a lighter note.

Twitterati was thoroughly amused.

Haha!

— Usman mohammed (@Usmanmoham35703)

Rana vs Mitchell

Heated up between Daryl Mitchel vs Harshit Rana in 1st ODI
— Mr.420 MEMER (@Mr420MEMER)

Heating up!

Does Daryl Mitchell know the consequences of fighting with India's only all-format player, Harshit Rana?
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy)

On fire!

Harshit Rana X Daryl Mitchell 😁
— 𝙉𝙄𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙏 🏏 (@_Cric_Addicted_)

LoL!

Wooh Daryl Mitchell vs Harshit Rana..

The Drama is in the air😂🔥
— Sukumaran BP (@BpSukumaran)

Well plyed!

Daryl Mitchell vs India in last 5 ODIs:

- 130

- 134

- 17

- 63

- 84

Why does he always become Don Bradman against India?
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy)

What a player!

Daryl Mitchell’s last five ODI scores vs IND

- 130

- 134

- 17

- 63

- 84

What a player 🙌
— NiiK (@Niiki099)

Superb catch!

BRILLIANT GRAB BY KL RAHUL 👏🔥

HARSHIT RANA DELIVERS A KEY BREAKTHROUGH FOR INDIA
— Rahul Yadav (@RahulYadav61762)

Excellent!

Excellent Innings from Daryl Mitchell. He has once again stepped up in pressure. One of The Most Consistent Batters. Very Underrated
— Aryan Goel (@Aryan42832Goel)

What a kncok!

A Daryl Mitchell masterclass finally comes to an end!

84 off 71 balls.

5 fours. 3 sixes.

Pure quality and composure when it mattered most. A massive shift for the team. Tremendous knock! 👏
— Neeraj (@NeerajY00859341)

Gone!